ScreamingDingo

“The skies wrought of lightning shows the call of the Night Terror, a plague to the world.” ORIGIN Birth of the Night Terror A beast that was wrought of the depths of the mountains, the Dragaar rose upon its wings upon the breath of life that was bestowed by the Bastion of Knowledge. The peaks turned into monumental wings and, as such, stretched forth. As those who were his siblings were wrought from the earth, the coal and blackstone of the world formed the scales of grandeur that he once sat upon. Gudour as an entity is not well-known for his exploits and early histories. He was a figure deemed of little significance by most scholars, who find trouble finding any proper depictions of this beast. There are rumours that he travelled within the Kingdom of Horen and offered some scholarly knowledge, but there was little confirmation of this by historians. The Battle of Horen’s Ridge is one of significance, where the true story began for this Drakaar. This battle was fought upon the edges of the Kingdom of Horen, where his people built onwards from the pain of the Thirty Years War and the affliction of the Betrayer’s Curse. The remnant forces of Iblees still plagued the land, where Azdromoth himself placed his sights upon humanity, to conquer for his now fallen lord. This battle was one of ill-repute, where the devastating effects of this conflict still reverberate to the stories told in the modern mythos. Gudour himself was positioned on the side of humanity, where he fought against the remnants of Iblees with vicious fervour. It is unknown whether he marched into battle with those soldiers, but such aggression was aimed towards the embodiment of Ruin that marched through these mountains. The battle itself erupted with violent flurries and exchanges from both sides, where the Horenic forces drove cavalry and infantry into the hordes of undead that still remained tethered from the forces of the Nether itself. The decaying soldiers of countless battles would stand tall as they charged against one another, with wizards and warlocks that threw molten metal and lightning from the skies into the waves of humanity. As in the clouds above, the exchange was held between both Dragonkin. The Titanic behemoth of Azdromoth turned the skies into an abyssal haze as his form stretched across the heavens, as Gudour himself intertwined in exchanges of Dragonsflame and physical clashes. The sheer brutality of Azdromoth was countered by the twisting turns of Gudour, underhanded swipes and pivots as the demi-gods themselves shook the clouds. The steel of man itself started to overcome the forces of Iblees as the scales of fate tipped towards chaos, as Azdromoth grappled upon Gudour in the skies and sunk his teeth into the neck of his brethren. The sky itself rained blood, flesh and miasma as the festering wound was left within Gudour. His jet-black scales cracked akin to glass, a fractured reminder of what would become of his mind. As the Titan flew high upon the battlefield, the Night Terror was born amongst the clouds and ash that scattered in the battlefields. The corruption of Iblees emerged through his mind as he dove towards the battlefield below, a scorching trail of thunder and lightning heard throughout the lands like a beating war drum. The beast descended from the ash-ridden clouds, as forces of both humanity and undeath were decimated by bouts of violet and green dragonsflame. Rock and stone melted into puddles, as metal and bone were eviscerated into horrific amalgamations, where strikes of lightning trailed behind the Drakaar and tore asunder the land itself. This battle was a disaster for both sides, where the main forces of Horen were decimated in flame, as the undeath and Azdromoth’s armies crumbled to dust. To Elven scholars, this battle was seen as a monumental deciding factor between the fall of Azdromoth and Horen respectively, weakening their forces beyond repair. This has never been confirmed and to human scholars, they quote the madness of Malin’s Kin creating delusion with their long-lived lives. Gudour himself fled to the south within his deluded madness, where the emergence of the horror dubbed, “The Night Terror” was carved into the foundations of history. A beast that would plunge fear into those that knew of his wrath, that slaughtered all that he encountered. This driving transformation of the inner soul of the dragonkin dwelled madness and confusion within his mind, as his very being rejected the poison of darkness that flowed within his veins. Years passed as the beast struggled with his inner turmoil, slumbering in periodic rhythms where he would hibernate for months on end and then decimate the closest population that dwelled near the lingering horror. Villages and castles were decimated by flame and thunder, as a sight was placed upon an instrument he believed would soothe his madness. The Sword of Horen. Upon the edges of Paradisus, Gudour himself ravaged upon the decaying Kingdom of Horen. The walls of stone were scorched as the skies themselves were stained with the abyss of darkness, the thunderous drake slaughtering the remnants of the crumbling town in a fit of rage. Scholars contest the exact details of this battle, but in Horen’s feeble state, his knights under the banner of the Red Dragon rode to fight Gudour with the Blade in hand. With as such, the Lord Commander Reginald Felder charged with his retinues with the dormant weapon, a violent flurry and vicious exchange left the battlefield in ashes. The knights themselves were melted beneath the heat of flame and lightning, with the Brightsteel blade between its corpses. For now the mantle of Horen was claimed, Gudour seeked true salvation. Yet, with the blade in hand, this soothed him only temporarily. The corruption of the Dragaar was one that was quick and brutal. The first few weeks of corruption had twisted his soul beyond redemption, he could not turn himself to stone or could muster the willpower to end his own life. He faltered with his challenges of polymorphing, where his draconic form was what was kept almost permanent between his bouts of rage and chaos. He drew upon the canvas of the world with hatred and malice, his flames and lightning cascading across all that drew its ire. HISTORY Strike Against the Sun The Night Terror set his sights upon the edges of the Atherian Coasts. The Order of the Golden Lion had emerged amongst the chaos, and Gudour’s own intent was to strike against the heavens itself. To be awashed with the flames that would combat the poison of his blood and very soul, to be freed of the madness inflicted by the King of Ruin, Azdromoth. For the Athna’s were figures known by the world, as were the first mortal agents of the Aenguls that were establishing their foothold upon the mortal world. He sought out one particular agent, one that would strike the most forceful ire of them all. Zyanna Athna. The Cleric of Xan. She continued her pilgrimage on behalf of her master, to restore a tower of antiquity to the lights of order. For Gudour waited days, the Blade of Jophiael held in his hands. The soothing voice of the Seraphim spoke to him in many tongues, and showed his future, his past and his present. An intertwining chaos, a battle of the corruption of Drakaaric madness, with that of cosmic chaos. Then yet, a night of storms emerged as she rose to the tower itself. Her robes and armor of gold glistening with each striking bolt that rampaged through the skies. The twisted irony of the weather is the blessing of Lightning of both Drakaar and Aengul. A night that was seen to symbolise the guiding light and order of Xan, was a night of sheer terror. Gudour emerged from the shadows, barely retaining his polymorphed form and impaled Zyanna with the Blade of Horen. A vicious and brutal attack, as the blade tore through flesh and stone. Blood splattered across the tower as the heavens howled and Gudour’s own hands rose to point towards the howling Cleric. Begging to be saved, she demanded the heavens would reprimand, yet no voice shouted back. The Drakaaric magics of Gudour encased the screaming lover of Xan in jet-black crystals that encased her. Her preaching arms frozen in constant fervor as the shimmer of the Blade of Horen was seen through her chest and protruded outward. Yet Gudour awaited on this tower till daybreak, the storms ravaged but no person walked those halls. None traversed to the towers, none were ready to grant Gudour his true release. With that, he left the symbol of ire upon that wretched tower. A grudge made of hatred and malice, aimed towards the heavens. HISTORY Madness Brews The Night Terror was well-known for his exploits against the descendants. Those of holy orders were challenged by the beast through vicious sieges and attacks. Those of the Rivel Mages were attacked at the height of their power, as were various sects of Tahariaen and Ascended members to attempt to dislodge them from their places. A response is all Gudour wished for. The voice of Jophiael kept a semblance of sanity upon his actions, but a self-righteous death was all he wished for. For now his life was a cycle of hibernation and destruction, where Gudour would slumber for years at a time and then emerge at his most maddened, to aim to send destruction upon the world. There were also rumours of instances where Gudour had confronted both reputable figures of Xannic and the Horenic Empire, challenging them to duels and wishing for a rightful end. These never came to him for many years, as this beast was a constant threat to all those around him. Final Battle Gudour’s own prayers were answered in the year of 1758. After the re-appearance of descendants on the fallen continent of Athera, Gudour emerged with intent to slaughter those that invaded those isles. With the Blade of Horen, he finally saw a future that was clear. An end. A purposeful provocation of the descendants led to the emergence of a party of assembled adventurers marching towards the Tower where Zyanna first fell. The adventurers were successful, able to beat back the attacks of Gudour and land violent blows that wounded him deeply. Blood caked his scales and skin, as his vision blurred from the fatigue and weakness of near-death. A welcomed acceptance, as the Blade of Horen whispered to him once more. The tone of the angel is well known. “It is time to rest, Warrior of the Storm. My brother shall continue your journey.” Searing pain kept through the body of Gudour in his final moments, as a vigilant, armored figure of light appeared on the edges of the battlefield. Jophiael glowed as the figure went to retrieve the blade, as Gudour sent a final, vicious ire towards the tower were Zyanna laid. His draconic form collided with that of Starlight, as the form of ivory and stone crushed the head and body of the dragon itself. A final, distinct crush heard in Gudour’s last moments. Freedom for the accursed beast. The aftermath of Gudour’s death were bards and artists demonstrating depictions against the Night Terror. A legacy of hatred immortalised by his fall. Zyanna did not appear in the rubble of the tower, shards of black crystal were visible in the debris but there was no true sign of what happened to them. A final act of defiance. Credits: ScreamingDingo - Writer

malin was the september prince

Holy shit did I actually prevent something

It's a half-half situation. There are people who definitely use these slurs with their IRL intent and they should be punished for doing as such. There's a very fine line for certain slurs and insults that need to stay detatched from IRL and also be relevant to the cultures that are there. "Knife-Ear" is a term I think that is great and does represent some of the sentinments and hatred towards the elven race [which has been seen throughout the server's 11 years of existence]. 'Darkie' itself is a contested one, mainly because it can be utilised by groups with ill-intentions, but it is on the edge of what could be considered acceptable or not. Biggest thing is just making sure these things do not allow for groups to be spreading hate-speech OOC. I expect the Mods to know where that line is and to be able to monitor/protect the playerbase effectively.

"Hey, did you see how the King did combat?> He was swinging and jumping at the same time, they even took leaps from 15 block walls to pursue the enemy! At one time he even regurgitated a boat and started sliding along the ice. So cool."

I was simply annoyed that during the Arcas eventline you took opportunities and completely ran them off the road to run your own sideplots, as you did with various other projects we've worked together on. When there's momentum to try and build an antagonist that isn't terrible for once, I was really quite bewildered at the actions and attitudes of entitlement you were given with these set pieces. Though, your work was not destroyed or brutalised by a reputation 'I' fostered, it instead has been something probably since at least the [TOS] Admin's tenure in staff trying to reverse and change some of the things that were under your care. Nozoa's alchemist cult was not destroyed by some staff agenda aswell. I am allowed to have my likes and dislikes for roleplay, but there was no systematic shutdown, and I do not believe peddling a false narrative of staff dislikes [or even my dislikes] can completely destroy aspirant lore communities like Nozoa's.

Xionism as a written concept and it's ideals are something I honestly respect immensely and see as one of the sole player-led religions that have thrived without staff intervention (bar Canonism) that have actually taken root in the servers culture and influenced many players. My annoyance with Xionism comes from it's lack of follow through and it's interpretation by players to justify it as an excuse for some pretty poor and non narrative driven rp out ones. But as a written ideal made by you ages ago, Xionism does achieve what it wanted to and it's a culture that aims to oppose the normal deific worship that was especially prevalent during the time it was written (it was post aengudaemonic catwalk events lol). It is an interpretation that many consider as OOC reality and I also think that is where things crumble, posts and lore were orientated around justifying the xionist perspective and now it's something I acknowledge and am currently working through myself in my geriatric role as loremaster. There are various posts and cosmic implications that don't make sense, but were written by others to try and justify this faith as the only true way to exist in lotc. As always, the soulsbourne references were something I was never really aligned with, but as everything back in the day it took extreme influence. (Look at Mordskov and The Marked Men both being direct rip offs of Berserk and The Witcher), so I'd be a hypocrite to critique it for it's influence. As much as we butt heads, I can't do anything but congratulate you in making a legacy of something on this server that has persevered beyond you. Not many people can genuinely say that and Xionism is really a testament to your influence on this community.

worm food lair

The biggest thing with compatibility focuses on Malchadiael's journey and what has happened in past events that has led to changes. One of the biggest points of contention is that Malchadiael was under Iblees' control for quite a long time and the Aengudaemons themselves despise that, allowing the connection of a potential Ibleesian agent into your halls is where it gets extremely problematic. Specifically in the Aspect's Realm, do remember that Malchadiael was used aswell to try and crack the Aspect Stone by Iblees. There is an apprehension even by the most 'sloth' entities that they want to ensure their realms are protected and there is no chance of a breaching of their spaces. The original compatibility was one that was basically placed in haphazardly and not realised until the Druid Templars were made, showing the initial loophole and it being way too late to patch by the time it was spread [as one of the Grandfathers was this]. What Islamadon said is right in regards to soul claiming, this is where the Aspects themselves would take precedent for protection against Malchadiael himself. He is the rabid, unchained dog of those who currently have his 'leash'. This rewrite does a very good job at orientating the magic to focus on the current state of Malchadiael post-mathic incident and modernises their approach to be beyond the generic punch bad holy, but a true representation of the deity that they serve, flaws and all. I normally don't endorse, but from what I've skimmed this seems like a fantastic direction for this magic and its future. [It almost aligns with the true ying-yang holy v dark dynamic pipedream ive always wanted to do aswell].

Hilariously the server is extremely similar and simply just goes through waves and eras of what groups have dominance and what is the most pressing issues. (We're about due for the 2016 or so magic arms race). There's an admin who cares about the server aswell, which is way more than the past. It's an alright change but there will always be ups and downs that are similar to the past. It's honestly not that deep. I'm allowed to dislike playerbases/groups for my own reasons. It's not like they hold some giant influence or actually effect things from when I am doing events or lore reviewals. People can RP whatever they want and I can't influence or change that ever, which is a great thing about this server. But with a server with differing mentalities about RP, how it's conducted, styles of it etc. There's bound to be some differences. Any group in particular are you petitioning on behalf of for being unjustly hated by me? because my hero arc was like my first two months of admin and then I spiralled into madness really been enjoying manchengo atm (Spanish semi hard cheese)

dont give azdrazi elytra lmfao

It's not a bad system, but something where I think it's potential is extremely limited with the setting of LotC and the exact allowances of what would be allowed in these deep dives. This aesthetic and ideas are genuinely unfounded and even though you've made submersible suits, it is something that would require a great amount of planning for maybe a few events where u do slow walking around in a water cave and get eaten by a creature. Naval / boat RP is already extremely difficult to perform on the server, adding another layer of depth will honestly just have this be used maybe once or twice before it disappears and is never used again.

yeah look that was my bad picking a place i didnt confirm as good yet. Ideal ST would just be a group of dedicated individuals that know how to complete events and being able to have them all collaborate to connect stories together. I'd probably do my 'dream' of nation-assigned STs who do small events for nations and act as a liasion to the team as to what that playerbase likes and how to accomodate them in the bigger picture. [but NLs suck don't trust them to do anything good]. Structure the team has is good, I normally like an uneven amount of managers to be able to tie break and like the idea of mentoring/shadowing newer recruits with ET who align with their RP styles to get the most breadth of skills possible. Been better, been worse honestly. It's in a position where it does achieve what it needs to, it has its structure for what it needs to be. Though it definitely needs a few tweaks and small clean ups to just make spells more feasible and reflective of CRP standards that will hopefully be set by moderation [hopefully they aren't just RP quotes]. oh lol probably one piece i think. i did rly like naruto as a kid and JJK and Chainsaw Man are fun for a casual watch Yeah trust me, if you think its annoying then you must understand I have internet archives of the 2011 + 2014 wikis to reference stuff to look for aengudaemonica posts and link up older timelines. Lore is a giant mess and it's honestly over a decade of mismatched nonsense that ultimately doesn't make sense. It's my pride and joy to try and dig through that mess and make something semi-consistent. Malin had sons and daughters, I don't remember the names but they were the progentiors of the sub-races if I am correct. One of them definitely being Zanunder, which is a figure I researched a bit for some eventlines who was Malin's Son. I have absolutely no clue what a Skanari is though. I assume it's just some player group w/ not too much lore basis, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Great. Had to give a reality check to a group that prioritised ruining people's RP experiences for rap montage clips. No regrets

shut up tabby you stupid banana i eat you i am gru eggs benedict for savoury brunch and big stack of panackes for sweet brunch. LotC writing is a hard one to define for exact inspiration, but here's the three [one from each]. For certain types of RP I delve a lot into mythology and really enjoy looking up stories of creation to try and make good ideas and concepts surrounding deific entities. Cosmic worldbuilding should follow the ideas of what we have in reality, standard concepts of creation and big rules that help all define every little thing so it all connects like a horrific web. Game of Thrones is where I probably get my 'fantasy' inspiration for how to make things feel dangerous and 'big' in the scheme of a place where power is very prominent. Like how to get dragons to actually scare people or threats that are shown in power and size through their actions. Battle Brothers and Wartales are my 'game' inspirations. I like the idea of tactical combat being brutal and understanding the severity of situations when things are hopeless. I really enjoy the concept of the mundane dude overcoming bizzare odds through sheer willpower and luck and was something that helped me really put an idea towards events I used to do bounty wise [hilariously it wasn't the witcher that inspired me, it was the merc games to create that authentic, gripping experience.]

To be honest, it was a pretty shit time. I didn't spend a lot of time doing ST stuff, I was very intertwined in admin stuff and having to take a lot more responsibilities for months that I personally did not want to take. I did not achieve much for the ST during my adminship and relied alot on @squakhawkto really keep the reins on the team and have it become a powerhouse. I'd do admin again if it was needed for a time of interim, but I don't have enough time and I really utilised that lockdown/covid period to be able to actually do meetings and interact with people who are 12+ hours difference timezones. It'd be a struggle with a full-time job and responsibilities

Internal bias is something that is inherently impossible to stop. You will always make decisions that benefit your way of thinking and trying to ensure that those around you have the best experience possible, potentially at the expense of others. All decisions will inherently be biased, but they need to be made with an idea in mind towards a server goal or objective as a staff member. My best way to have done this was genuinely stepping away from any active community and making decisions not on behalf of places or nations. I took an extremist approach because I know how extremely difficult it is to do. The best way to stop internal bias is to have people around you, who will look at your behaviour and pull you up on stupid decisions. Other staff members that are not involved or have opposing ideals are great to surround yourself with, as you are then able to build these ideals with a wide range of opinions that you encounter every day. Bias is always encouraged if you establish a team of Yes Men, but when making staff teams and compositions, you want the widest amount of depth of opinions to try and make the most 'informed' decisions. Most of my 'PK' events were not actually PK events, they were used as a deterrence to get players who would not take risks away from my events. I used it as a filter to try and get the roleplayers who were not afraid of losing all their art commissions and progress to experience some great events. I have had an incident or two where I've had events with Aengudaemonic intervention where people have argued the verdict and did throw an absolute shitstorm in protest. These were instead granted pretty debilitating effects to reflect the RP that happened after months of interaction. You win some, you lose some. I believe that with the playerbase and numbers we have, any newer races will be delegated to positions of alternate accounts where they will be barely any presence within the world. Most of these new race fads come and go, and we should respect and understand that the wide variety of races we currently have is very ample for the playerbase we have. We are a big server in terms of population compared to other MCRP, but are relatively small in terms of making various large playerbases and cultures. I like bigger picture stuff, things that hilariously don't matter much to players or the in-game perspective but things that help set the laws and concepts of the universe and connecting those dots together. Always as an ET I was insistent on ensuring in connecting plotpoints and narrative things together to create a cohesive web. As my current position is really putting that into a bigger perspective, making everything make sense and understanding how it all fits together in a giant puzzle piece. I thoroughly enjoy the established World Lore of the Inferi and Cosmic Correction by Mordu [hence why the antag I led was based on it lol]. I think establishing a force of demonic entities that are intertwined with the natural order of the world is something that can be used as a unique concept and allows for more than just generic 'i am satan' rp when thinking of things on a larger scale. Most disliked is probably Yeu Rthulu and the said associated magic. The piece was always extremely clunky in my personal opinion of where it fit in the server and was a giant headache to moderate and try to make sense of during the Pantheon Restructure. Favourite events would have been in uh... I don't remember which map but for the old heads its when Raptor became the super undead soldier king of Renatus. We had a massive questline w/ Merrymoogle and Firespirit surrounding the reclaiming of some relics and had to unironically fight this balrog like creature with the marked guys. Was an extremely great event and very brutal [had about 4 pks since we did PK on death for the guild]. Was probably one of the last times I really had fun as a normal player/character. I squatted in a small village in Aegis that was built in Treehuts that was I believe behind Malinor. It was a mess of freebuild esque houses where we hid chests in tree trunks and had little 2x1 bunkers to hide in when we heard lightning from undead. Long story short, I believe shamanism has the potential to be an absolutely interesting and great magic. But it's been pigeon-holed to the orcs for so long that it has lost any foundations or momentum to become anything but a magic that is rewritten every time the leadership/culture shifts slightly. Contacted you on discord for this one. I'm not there in the day-to-day of the ST any more, so I cannot comment on current policies. My personal belief is that heavy bias to a group is something that needs to be controlled and monitored carefully. The establishment of the really horrific lore regimes came from people who had chokeholds on magics and were able to buff their magics to extreme levels where everyone else was just left without no compromise. [Also why I am a supporter of things like Alchemy, it's a great equaliser to when magic becomes a violent arms race. Everyone can fight back, not just those who need to sneak in extremely strong amendments.] I especially believe that in the ST that roleplay standards and conduct should be something that people are held to. If you are a person who cannot lose situations and must report people constantly for when they believe they are infringing on your RP, that you should not be part of the team. If you find the need to meta-game information or twist OOC to make your RP happen, you should not be part of it. I believe that the ST should be rolemodels and seen as the higher standards of RP, which does not happen all of the time. Going great honestly. Work has been good and just having fun with things that are happening. Hippos Owyn who was a farfolk [Or if we are talking semi-modern. The Chivay Brothers were fantastic characters and great to RP with] Diogenes was pretty funny. Not too much of a fan of big historical figures and leaders but whenever I listen to this podcast it makes me like whatever they talk about for like a week. [half-arsed history] idk how its you I personally think I did quite well with the Inferi Antag and even though I do beat myself up about it, I do know that a lot of people enjoyed it and it was one of the most successful antags in recent years. Also the entire Mordskov saga was one I personally enjoyed running, it helped build my skills as an actor and learning how to approach things in ways that were different from your stock standard, conventional dnd approach. The use of IRL occultism and those concepts made me genuinely better at approaching how to play deities and strange entities better than I could before. About 2015 or so when I started playing around with ET events where I could gaslight people into killing their NLs

Normally materials relating to new maps are reviewed internally within management. Otherwise most ST do need to submit material lore the same way everyone else does and have it reviewed as such. Not much of a changing process in regards to this.

Nearly 12 years of this server has culminated into a lot of experiences and perspectives that I have witnessed. Reflecting from a 13 year old kid who got his first account from a friend who wanted me to do write his english essays and overusing tildes and horrific emoticons. It has been a wild ride, where I have been on staff countless times as Application Team, Event Team, Moderator, Lore, Admin and now helping build the setting that I did purposefully ignore for the first 8 years [humanity rules]. Most well known for being blasted publicly on Twitch Streams for saying that I should be democractically voted out of Admin for not saying Bucketball was legitimate, to also shelving the snow elves [and world editing them for a nifty two year ban by Tsuyose]. Happy to answer any questions or things that you'd want to know about my perspectives/opinions on lore [i will not review any lore nicely]. I am perceived as this constant boogeyman and want to offer some clearance to dispell this mantra around me.

Always respect your hustle and how you've done world building on this server. It's something I will always understand to be great and I know the exact feeling that you speak about on the post. I'm stuck here in my own personal crusade to finally make a legacy [which will most likely be fruitless]. To your next stories and adventures you have elsewhere, hope you keep your passion for writing alive in other mediums.